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Chapter 7
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A Family of Five, and I Rank Sixth Chapter 10
That night, my phone vibrated on the desk. The screen lit up with Mauro's number.As soon as I answered, he started shouting. "Shelly said you told us not to bother you anymore. What do you mean by that? Mom and Dad miss you. Why wouldn't you come home?"Now that Mom and Dad are getting older, you're just going to stay far away? Are you still part of this family?"I held the phone and walked over to the window. Outside, fallen leaves from the trees covered the ground."Mauro Brown," I said. "When I was in college, I lived on $500 a month. Meanwhile, you could buy a pair of shoes that cost over $1,000."You stole money from my wallet to buy a game cartridge. Mom and Dad protected you because you were 'just a kid.' Have you forgotten all that?"He fell silent, then muttered, "That... was all a long time ago. Mom and Dad are getting old now, and business isn't great. You've made something of yourself. Shouldn't you come back and help?""I signed a classified agreement," I said calm
A Family of Five, and I Rank Sixth Chapter 9
On the day I went back to campus to handle my graduation paperwork, the weather was great.I put my diploma away and signed the agreement for the combined master's and doctoral program. Danial told me the base had already submitted a request. Once I finished my PhD, I would return directly to the team as a research lead.As I walked out of the administration building, I saw Shelly leaning against the wall. She looked more mature now, dressed in a professional suit with carefully applied lipstick."Jane," she called out, stepping forward with a strained smile. "Congratulations. Mom and Dad told me you're a big hero now."I nodded without speaking. She followed me toward the dorm, her high heels clicking sharply on the stone path."You haven't come home once in three years," she said. "You have no idea how things have changed. Dad's business isn't doing well. He lost most of his old clients, and money is tight at home."I just started working, but my salary barely lasts before I ha
A Family of Five, and I Rank Sixth Chapter 8
In the blink of an eye, three years had passed.Our research program drew to a triumphant close, and I returned to Eldorainbay with the team.On the day of the commendation ceremony, the auditorium was packed. When the medal was pinned to my lapel, the intense glare of the stage lights was almost blinding.In the audience, the entirety of our project team sat together. Daniel was clapping with a proud, booming enthusiasm, and Linda was beaming so widely her eyes were brimming with tears.The medal felt profoundly heavy, deeply engraved with the state project registry code and my name. For the group photo, Danial pulled me to the center and rested his hand on my shoulder."Jane, this successful maiden launch wouldn't have cleared the atmosphere without your data matrix. You were the linchpin of this entire operation," he said.Linda stood right beside me, flashing a brilliant grin and quietly flashing me a thumbs-up. I slowly lowered my eyes, staring down at the polished metal res
A Family of Five, and I Rank Sixth Chapter 7
We were deep into the third round of data verification.It was two o'clock in the morning, and the only sound filling the server room was the drone of the cooling fans. I stared intently at my monitor, scanning line after line of the complex propellant ratio parameters.A senior member tapped my shoulder. "Go get some sleep. Your eyes are bloodshot."I shook my head, my eyes refusing to leave the screen. My cursor stopped on one value, isolated four digits past the decimal point. The deviation from our theoretical model was infinitesimally small—the kind of microscopic margin that any routine automated validation script would instantly skip right over.But something about the symmetry felt wrong. Trusting my gut, I pulled up the raw paper logs from every related experiment we had run over the past six months, cross-referencing them page by page.The crisp sound of turning paper rasped loudly against the silence of the room. Linda didn't say a word to disrupt my focus. Instead, she
A Family of Five, and I Rank Sixth Chapter 6
The wind at the frontier was fierce.The logistics coordinator issued me a standard-issue windproof hardshell and thermal base layers. The gear was thick and well-insulated; the moment I pulled it on, the biting chill stopped bothering me entirely.The base housing assigned two people to a room. My roommate was a senior grad student named Linda Gould, who was two years ahead of me in the program. She was efficient, organized, and didn't waste words.On our first night, I spent a long time in the shower, thoroughly scrubbing every inch of my skin. When I stepped out, Linda took one look at my raw, reddened arms and spoke up."It's incredibly dry out here in the desert, Jane," she said. "You don't need to shower like that every day."I instinctively curled my fingers. "Does it seem like I have bad hygiene?""Are you kidding?" Linda laughed, surprised. "You're already famous around the dorms for being the cleanest person on the project. The other girls are jealous, telling me I hit
A Family of Five, and I Rank Sixth Chapter 5
Back at the apartment, Sandy stared down at her unreplied text message. "Jane is really pushing it, throwing a tantrum like this."Annoyed, she fired off another text to the family group chat.[Jane Brown, breakfast is on the table. Eat it or don't.][And charge your phone already. Don't miss anything important.]No one replied.Michael clicked his tongue and stirred his oatmeal. "Her temper is getting out of hand. Just let her rot."Shelly bit into her toast, talking around a mouthful. "Maybe she went to find a summer job. A couple of days ago, I saw her checking flights on her phone.""Flights?" Sandy frowned. "She couldn't just save some money and take a cheap bus? Always looking for ways to blow cash! Just wait until she gets back; we're having a serious talk."Slapping her silverware down on the table, Sandy marched over and pushed open the door to my bedroom. The bed was empty, and the suitcase in the corner was gone."Did she really leave for a job?" Sandy paused, a bri
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